Tag: Pro-Choice

An anti-abortion rally in Spain by Christian groups has been disrupted by a five topless women from the feminist group Femen chanting “Abortion is sacred.”

Rally participants tried to grab hold of the topless women and hit some of them with red spray paint before police intervened to stop the melee in downtown Madrid.

It was one of 46 such rallies planned in Spanish cities and towns on Sunday in support of a possible government proposal to add restrictions to a law that allows abortion until the 14th week of pregnancy.

Three female Femen members staged a topless protest in Spain’s Parliament on Oct. 9 as Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, an advocate to more abortion restrictions, addressed the lawmakers.

Abortion continues to be a highly-contentious issue, even as this week marks the 40th anniversary since the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court verdict was handed down. It’s a never-ending battle, typically colored by raw emotion. While one polar side traditionally argues that life begins at the moment of conception, the other tends to shy away from any recognition that the unborn qualify as human lives.

This pro-life versus pro-choice dynamic often leads to intense clashes in the public sphere, with both sides accusing the other of restricting rights and advocating damaging policies. In a new piece that was published this week, Salon’s Mary Elizabeth Williams, a pro-choice adherent, decides not to steer clear of the “life” issue and asks: “So what if abortion ends life?”

The question, itself, is enough to send anti-abortion advocates into a tizzy. Williams, who identifies herself as pro-choice, takes a divergent route from others on the left who have staunch views about abortion rights. Rather than denying the fact that fetuses are human lives, she, like pro-lifers, fully embraces this ideal. However, Williams differentiates between the rights that the unborn have from those that belong to women.

“Yet I know that throughout my own pregnancies, I never wavered for a moment in the belief that I was carrying a human life inside of me. I believe that’s what a fetus is: a human life,” Williams wrote. “And that doesn’t make me one iota less solidly pro-choice.”

She went on to decry the “semantic power” that is inherent within the modern-day debate, taking particular aim at those who oppose abortion by using the word “life” to win the debate. But rather than cowering to what the writer says are the “sneaky, dirty tricks of the anti-choice lobby,” Williams proposes that pro-choice advocates should not cower when the word “life” is brought into the discussion. Instead, she believes that pro-choicers should double down and explain why women should have more rights than fetuses.

Today marks the 40th anniversary since the Supreme Court ruled on the controversial Roe vs. Wade case. The result, of course, was legalized abortion across the United States of America and a seemingly never-ending debate surrounding theology, public policy and women’s rights.

While many people are well aware of the general themes surrounding the legal battle, the background of the woman at the center of it all, Jane Roe (real name: Norma McCorvey), may be somewhat unknown to most Americans. Her story is a fascinating one, as the plaintiff-turned-activist quickly became the catalyst — and face — of legalized abortion, later renouncing her role to become one of the nation’s most outspoken pro-life advocates. And even if you might have known that, there’s plenty of other fascinating details you may not.

McCorvey, who went by the pseudonym ”Jane Roe” for the purposes of her role in a legal battle that set off decades of furor, has gone through some fascinating evolutions over the past four decades (in case you’re wondering, “Wade” was Henry Wade, Dallas County’s District attorney who was attempting to uphold Texas law). Contrary to what one might expect from the woman who once fervently challenged abortion regulations, McCorvey, in her later years, has expressed sadness about the Roe vs. Wade verdict. In 1997, while speaking with CNN about the ruling’s anniversary, she told the outlet that it made her “very sad.”

(LifeNews) CNN has released the results of a new poll showing a majority of Americans want all or most abortions prohibited — a clear pro-life majority.

The survey asked: “Do you think abortion should be legal under any circumstances, legal under only certain circumstances, or illegal in all circumstances?” Some 62 percent want abortions illegal in all cases or legal only in certain instances while just 35% want abortions legal for any reason.